Leongatha holds off Traralgon

LEONGATHA held off a strong Traralgon challenge, a burst of third term goals and determined last quarter defence proving key factors in the Parrots’ success.

VFL-experienced Cam Olden was instrumental for the defending premier, winning the Sherrin all over the ground and booting two majors to be the Parrots’ only multiple goal scorer.

However, the club rated the performance of another prolific ball winner and effective user Jake van der Pligt its best for match, with Olden next.

After the clubs lined up for the unfurling of Leongatha’s 2023 Reserves and Senior flags, the match didn’t begin as anticipated.

A mixture of impressive Traralgon defensive pressure and poor goal kicking from Leongatha resulted in the Parrots registering just eight behinds in the opening term and a couple more up to halftime.

The Maroons held a couple of goals advantage at that stage, adding another from close range five minutes into the third stanza to skip three goals ahead before the Parrots hit back three minutes later through Olden.

His mark and goal was soon followed by a free kick and 50 metre penalty that ensured a Jack Ginnane major, with teammate Jenson Garnham then winning a one-on-one contest near goal and snapping truly to bring Leongatha level.

Ever-reliable captain Tom Marriott continued the purple patch for the Parrots, taking a clean overhead grab in damp conditions, following persistent drizzle, and nailing his set shot to put his side over a goal in front after an earlier behind returned it to the lead.

While Traralgon responded through a Max Jacobsen mark and goal, Noah Fixter soon marked up forward for Leongatha, feeding the handball to Cade Maskell who goaled on the run, the Parrots taking a one goal advantage into the final term.

“We got the ball first that quarter and it shows,” Leongatha ruckman Ben Willis said during the three quarter time break.

The Parrots also used the footy better during the third term, moving it more effectively, something coach Trent McMicking noted during his address, asking his players, “How much better did we look when we started to move the ball with pace?”

He urged his side to control the footy in the last stanza, hitting marking targets, having earlier called for a reduction in “little handballs in the backline” during his quarter time speech.

At that stage, McMicking was pleased with the positions the Parrots were getting into and their ball winning ability but called for greater polish in terms of execution.

Both sides appeared to overuse the footy in the moist conditions for much of the day, although there was often pressure on whoever had the ball in hand.

Olden stepped up again in the final term, booting a goal 10 minutes in after getting a free kick to put the Parrots 13-points up, and it looked like Leongatha may build a comfortable advantage.

However, Traralgon refused to let up, a great passage of passes enabling co vice captain Luis D’Angelo to goal on the run.

As it transpired, that major, 13 minutes into the term was the game’s final goal, with Traralgon managing to cut its deficit to five points before Leongatha recruit Cooper Alger stood tall in the dying seconds to mark well inside Traralgon’s forward arc.

The Maroons’ ability to cause a near upset was aided by skipper Tye Hourigan who continued to be prominent in defence and mark strongly, seeing him named the side’s best ahead of Jacobsen.

McMicking praised his players for grinding out the win.

“It’s a huge tick,” he said of his side’s determined effort as the Parrots set their sights on an away clash against last year’s Grand Final opponent Wonthaggi, the Power looking to bounce back from a Round 1 loss to Warragul.